Michigan finally has its frontier movie. Even by making-a-movie standards, it wasn’t easy.

“It was a long journey for this project,” said DJ Perry, who wrote and co-stars in “Wild Faith,” which opens Friday in Lansing and Grand Rapids.

Very long. Perry wrote a version in 2002 and almost made it a few years later. The Meridian Historical Village was dressed up for the part, Hollywood co-stars were hired ... and the financing fell through.

Now the movie has been made – this time primarily at the Charlton Park Historical Village near Hastings. “You step onto the streets there and you’re in the past,” said Shane Hagedorn, who stars.

For Hagedorn – a security officer at Sparrow Hospital who makes movies during his vacations – a frontier film was a key goal: “My dad named me after the finest one, ‘Shane.’”

Shane Hagadorn in a scene from “Wild Faith,” which was produced partly in Grand Ledge and Hastings and opens Friday in Lansing and Grand Rapids.(Photo: Courtesy)

Those films are usually about Texas or Montana or such. But Hagedon, Perry and director Jesse Low – all from the Lansing area – say Michigan fits well in:

•Historical context. When the Civil War ended, it had been a state for less than 30 years and had fewer than a million people, scattered through a massive area that led the nation in lumbering. As Perry says in the movie, a squirrel could cross the state without touching the ground.

• Settings. “We knew that woods were not going to be a problem,” said director Jesse Low, who used Grand Ledge’s Fitzerald Park for a key scene. “But we also found that there are a number of really good historical villages in the state.”

The Meridian village was no longer a possibility, Perry said, especially after an apartment building and grocery store were finished nearby. The Corunna Historical Village was almost chosen, until the Hastings spot was discovered. Other key elements fell into place, including Civil War re-enactors (for flashback scenes) and a steam-engine railroad, preserved in Coldwater.

“I love this state,” Hagedorn said. “I want to keep shooting movies here. It has all of these beaches and forests and historical villages.”

Shane Hagadorn and Martez Moore in a scene from “Wild Faith.”(Photo: Courtesy)

He had tried to write a cowboy film, but the ones he came up with would have been too expensive. That’s when he and Perry turned to what had once been a “Wild Michigan” screenplay.

The original would have included supporting roles for Dan Haggerty (“Grizzly Adams”), Rance Howard (Ron’s father), Lana Wood (Natalie’s sister and a former Bond girl) and more. Haggerty and Howard have since died, but Wood is there. Playing her husband is Darby Hinton – who was Daniel Boone’s son in a TV series, more than a half-century ago.

Perry took what would have been Haggerty’s role, as a grizzled trapper. Hagedorn played the central role of a former soldier, now caring for the widow and daughter of a black colleague.

Both fit the frontier tradition, Hagedorn said. “I wanted to play that sort of stoic character.”

The co-stars were solid – including a tiger. “He was great to work with,” Hagedorn joked. “He was a real professional, in that he didn’t eat anyone.”

“Wild Faith” writer and producer DJ Perry in a scene from the movie.(Photo: Courtesy)

Actually, that tiger – roaming the woods after a circus-train crash – was added by special effects. That points to why this worked better being filmed in current times:

• Technical quality has improved, both for special effects and for general scenes. “Digital makes the big difference,” Low said. “You can pull off a great-looking movie on a good budget.”

• The emergence of a genre of “faith films,” which work with general audiences, but also specifically draw Christian groups. That fits the frontier days, Perry said, when prayers centered on survival.

The faith link is apparently successful. Hagedorn said an extra showing was added for Friday, when the main one was virtually sold out. The International Christian Film Festival has even nominated “Wild Faith” as best picture, director, actor (Hagedorn) and actress (Lauren Lastrada).